The Pinterest-publisher linchpin

The Pinterest-publisher relationship is changing, and it’s causing some media companies to take a more serious approach to their Pinterest strategy, including figuring out how to use the platform for more than just driving traffic back to their sites.

This strategy shift is partially due to the fact that Pinterest itself is going through a period of redefinition. The company wants to keep people on its platform for longer, but despite years of trying to position itself as a visual search platform, it is still trying to shake its identity as a social media company. With the help of publishers, it is working on making those image changes happen.

The key hits:

• Pinterest wants to be known as a search platform that goes beyond sending people to other websites and gets them to spend money and time on its platform.
• Pinterest is paying publishers, in some cases, to help the platform achieve this mission.
• Other media companies are noting this identity shift and are having to adjust their own Pinterest strategies to keep both editorial output and brand campaigns performing well.

Per a suggestion from the platform itself, PureWow’s editorial team has “stopped thinking of Pinterest as a social platform and really started thinking of it as essentially an SEO platform,” said Jillian Quint, editor-in-chief of the Gallery Media Group-owned women’s lifestyle publication. She described Pinterest as a place where people oftentimes go specifically to find a new “low calorie burrito recipe” or find inspiration for their homes or weddings or fall wardrobe. Meanwhile, Pinterest’ head of content and creator partnerships Aya Kanai told Digiday in an email that she views the platform more “like a catalog personalized to you and your taste,” leaning into the idea that Pinterest is gearing up to be a new shopping destination.

Both of these perceptions of Pinterest have been backed up by the launch of two new products this year: “idea pins” which debuted in May, and Pinterest TV, which was announced this week.

• Idea pins feel almost like Pinterest’s take on Instagram Stories (or Twitter Fleets and LinkedIn Stories — R.I.P.), allowing users to post a series of up to 20 videos or photos within one pin. Only they don’t disappear after 24 hours.
• Pinterest TV is a new shoppable video product that gives a better opportunity for creators to sell products on the platform, a feature that has been traditionally dominated by Facebook and Google, according to Matthew Schulte, the CRO and COO of Brit + Co.

But the actual execution of these launches have left publishers needing to adjust to potentially yet another algorithm change, starting …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron